Burn some rubber. Literally. Review on Palio - Petrol

The hatch is back. With a bang! From the Italian workshop, the Palio is the swankiest hatchback in town. I bought a 1.6 GTX Anniversary Edition Palio a couple of months back. And boy am I satisfied! Here's what I like about this metal powerhouse.

First, the engine. A 100 bhp, 1.6 litre DOHC engine puts you right up there with the C-segmenters like the Honda City. And with the 14 Kgm torque you're going to be off from a standing start before most cars can say ''abracadabra''. Reviews put the 0-60 kmph at 5.01 seconds, and 0-100 at 11.19 seconds! I'm not going to compare this with a hatch, it takes the likes of the Ikon and City. I've done 160 kmph on it before I ran out of road, but it seems like the engines not yet out of breath - the reviews give it a max of 185. And while the laid back chauffeur driven car owners will call the sound ''harsh'' above 100, I'd say this - it roars. Really. Try it.

The body is very sleek, well designed and in very neat colors. I've got an Imola Red - the color, they say, of the Formula 1 Ferrari. For a really powerful car, the body is immensely heavy - at 1070 kgs, it's heavier than the Ikon or the Accent! This brings the bhp per kg down, so the Ikon does get a better pickup till like 60 km/hr. (That's less than six seconds on a drag. After that the Ikon eats dust) You can make out how heavy on safety the car really is - the beams are massive, and lifting the hood a few times will make you give up that gym subscription. The large beams partially impair vision, and can be a problem for the driver, especially the passenger side front beam. Brakes are good - disks on the front and drums on the rear, though some of the Japanese C segmenters sport even better ones. Supposedly my ''anniversary edition'' car had more controlled braking.

The body contours are excellent, making for a really ''cool'' looking car. The lights look really good, including the fogs that are on the 1.6. In the rear the spoiler gives the body a sporty look, but they could have done a lot better with the exhaust. The body's rugged, unlike the 800 I used to drive. The wheels are 14'' alloys, which add to the sporty look. On the interiors, what I like best is the metal pedals, the leather covered gearknob and steering wheel. The inside is roomy - you won't feel like you're sitting in a hatch. Even the back seat's great, it's big enough for one to even get ideas! The boot's larger than it looks, though not as big as the saloons. A/C works great, and doesn't cut as much power as you'd think - but it can get a little noisy when turned up. Fuel efficiency : I'm getting around 9 Kmpl in the city with the A/C on.

What've I done to the car? Put an MP3 player and around 10 speakers. I couldn't care less if them buses honked their electrical systems bust, I will not hear 'em, period. NOthing else really, though I did manage to squeeze the dealer for mats, flaps and the Autocop.

I've had no problems with the car so far, except it took them a month to get it to me - that was a little irritating, but then it's Fiat so some say ''only one month?''. The car looks great, drives very smoothly and is FAST. In safety and comfort, this is by far the best car in the sub-10 lakh segment that I've sat in, with the possible exception of the Lancer. In all, the 1.6 delivers the best performance for money.